Diwali Cards!

Hello All,

India is a land that is rich in its culture. We have diversity in basic things like food clothing and shelter from region to region.We are said to have "Unity in Diversity". The one thing that most of the times unites us is the celebration of multiple festivals throughout the country. Every month marks atleast one festival in India :)

But out of all the multiple festivals, diwali is one such festival that is celebrated with great vigor, enthusiasm throughout the country. Rightly called as the "Festival of lights", it illuminates the light of hope and courage in our hearts. For its celebration is to mark the comeback of a great warrior "Shri Ram" from his battle with Ravan.

Indian culture is so much in my nerves, that i can seriously go on and on. So cutting it short, for this diwali one of my colleague asked me to make cards in bulk to be gifted to her husband's client as diwali gift. She wanted me to make 50 cards. Initially, i was little hesitant. Reason being that amidst diwali preparation i would hardly get time for crafting. But she was really insistent that I take up her order and kept on encouraging me that I can do it :) (Friends have a weird way of making u feel that you r the best). She was soon due for her maternity leave and wanted the cards before that. Try as i might i did not have a heart to refuse her. I love pampering females when they are expecting. I find them really cute:)

So then the started the battle of sleepless nights, coping office work and home duties and most of all staying geared up for diwali as well. She didnt want all of them to be same. So i created some variations for her. She wanted something simple yet elegant. So presenting a few of my cards here :

These cards have different types of diyas:

These cards have hand cut lantern shapes on it:

These cards have hand drawn Lord Ganesha on them:

When all of the cards got over, i did heave a sigh of relief with a weird sense of achievement :) My colleague was very happy to get the cards before her maternity leave. I in turn became happy seeing her smile :)

Do leave back your comments, they mean alot to me

Hugs,

Bijal

  

Doremon Pop Up Cake Card

It was my niece's birthday. I wanted to gift her something special apart from the regular gifts given to her. Something that would bring a 1000 mm  smile on her face :)
I thought of making a card that shows her favourite cartoon character. When i asked her mom about her favourite cartoon character, she told me it was "DOREMON".

Somehow that really turned me off. I myself love watching cartoons and enjoy them a lot. But i don't know why today's cartoons just do not have the charm of the cartoons that came during our time. I used to love watching talespin, gummy bears, mermaid etc. But those cartoons sadly do not exist these days.
I do not like doremon at all. I feel it encourages kids to become lazy.

Anyways, you must b wondering that if i do not like doremon, how did I end up making a card about him. In I.T. we have a rule "Whatever Works" So if it was doremon that made my niece happy, I would give that to her!!!
So here is a look at my card :

Thats the inside of the card. I added a small pop up cake and added 5 candles on top indicating that she completed 5 years. I added all the cartoon characters to her garden party and added a board saying "Vrinda's Garden Party :)

Am really bad at clicking pics. So here is one more pic of doremon that shows the actual yellow background.

Later on i added a poem to the card. Due to lack of light and crunch of time, this pic has not come clear. Hopefully you will be able to read the poem :)

And finally that's me and my lovely little niece at her birthday party. Isn't she the cutest thing in the world?

No wonder i love her sooo much.

Please do leave back your comments on the card. They mean alot to me

Regards,

Bijal

Guitar shaped card.....

Often at times, we are so caught up in the nuances of our busy life, that we forget the basic things that make us happy. In fact, we forget being happy all together at times. Work ,home and duties become a daily routine. We forget that happiness is not subject to the extra comforts or fancy bread that our money earns. All we need is a love in our hearts and joy in our minds and happiness beholds us at every step...

You would wonder why am i going in all this weird philosophy. Its actually the reason i came up with this card. A very dear friend of mine always had a deep desire to learn guitar. But career, success etc had taken such a heavy toll on his life that he let go this simple desire to achieve some greater things in life. Just as i find inner solitude and peace while crafting, I always asked him what hobby does he turn up to. Once he had mentioned to me that he wished to learn guitar. And as crafting is to me: music is to him :)

So on his birthday I thought of gifting him a card in shape of a guitar. It was my way of encouraging him to take up his hobby and pursue it, just for the sake of pleasure that it would give him. Something that he could turn upto for finding his inner peace

Anyways, it turned out to be a little difficult task. I was worried if the shape would come up correctly because i was doing it free hand. Here is a glimpse at my card...

I had downloaded a few shapes of guitars and made a free hand drawing for the same.

The so called rock star is a big fan of cartoons. So i added alot of stickers to make him happy :)

The brown paper is taken from used wedding cards. For making the guitar strings i used the 3-D fevicryl colours. Am not sure how many strings does a guitar actually have. But i made mine accomodate 5 :) hehe

Made a 3 layer cake on the inside.

Anyways he absolutely adored the card and my efforts were truly successful. As it is the purpose of giving cards is to spread smiles and am happy that i gave him one :)

Please do let me know how did u like my card

Regards,
Entering in :
Lulupu: 3 layers on the front. used fevicrly colours, stickers and black bindi on the cards front

Hanna and friends,paper crafting journey, Seize the birthday, Sassy Design studio, Rhedd and rosie,Stamp and doodle,C is for challenge
Bijal

Crafters Corner First Anniversary

Hello Folks,
 Crafters Corner blog is celebrating their first anniversary. I wish the entire team a hearty congratulations. !!!
Love your blog, your challenges and the warm comments by your DT. Thanks for introducing lovely products to us.

Cheers ,
Bijal

Lord Ganesha Rangoli!

On the eve of Ganesh Utsav, we had taken ganpati at home for a period of 1.5 days. For the welcome of our cute little Ganesha, i thought of adorning our veranda with his rangoli. So a quick post here on the rangoli that i made for him!

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all of you  :) !!

Regards,
Bijal

Raksha Bandhan Card!!!

This Raksha bandhan, i thought of gifting my brother with a cute little card. I don't know why, but I always end up being in a time crunch while making any card. At times i have this habit of leaving things till last moment :)

I wanted to make something cute and while browsing across images i came across this cute edwin and tilda pic. I immediately sketched it out and colored it and made this cute little card for my bro...

The inside of the card , i adorned with my small poem.

Hope you liked this card. please do leave back your comments. They mean alot to me

Linking it to :

Crafters Corner

Ben 10 Key Chain!!

Hello All,

Its been quite sometime since I wrote my last blog entry... Feels like ages...
Anyways a cute friend of mine was a little upset with me. When i had been to his room, I saw his bed sheets full of Ben 10 cartoon pics. I found it so weird and funny that i ended up laughing out loud.

And my poor little friend started pouting and then refused to talk to me how much ever i tried. I had to make up to him and kept thinking hard that how should I?

Then it struck me, that why not make a Ben 10 key chain and gift him.I felt sure that it would cheer him up.So here's the key chain  that i made for him.

Here is how i made this cute little key chain.

I cut out a piece of cardboard and applied a thick coat of fevicol on one side and let it dry. After it dried up, I repeated the process for the other side. 

I punched out a hole using my single hole punch and adjusted the ring in it. I decorated one side using the Ben 10 stickers and fevicryl colours.

The layer of glue on both sides will protect the cardboard from getting spoilt in rain. He extremely loved the key chain and my acceptance of his favourite cartoon character. I got a big big tight hug from him and i was all smiles!!!!

Hopefully you guys like my little experiment and project as well. Please do leave back your comments. They mean alot to me !!

Entering it in :

Itsy Bitsy:For kids, Crafters corner: Anything Goes

My First Explosion Box card!!!

Its been such a long time since i had touched my scissors, that my hands were craving for its touch. Sometimes office work takes such a heavy toll that crafting always soothes my mind. For the time that i start making a card, its like being lost in a fantasy world surrounded with ample of colours, mixture of feelings and abundance of love. This amazing recipe results in a heart touching card. I don't know how many of you feel this. But i surely do :)


Anyways,I recently got a request to make a card with a touch of surprise element in it. After some thinking and browsing, i thought why not to try an explosion box card!!!

My hands had been itching for trying explosion box card. But i always held back, thinking about the number of panels to decorate  :)

So for a start i made this simple card. that had just one set of panels. And secondly my dear client was shy enough and didn't want to share any pics or information about his better half. So here i was left all on my own :)

My friend was going abroad for further studies and his girlfriend was losing all hopes for their relation. He wanted to assure her that distances cannot hamper any relation. It will rather spice up their love :)

This is the lid of the box. The roses are hand made.

I made a 2 layer round cake and added a teddy in between. I always feel that the sight of teddy always cheers a girls mood :)

These are all the panels when kept open . The empty one is for the guy to paste his pic with his girlfriend!!
Do let me know how you found my first attempt at explosion box card.

Entering this card  for:
Beyond GreyHouse of gilli,Cuttlebug Mania,Our daily bread,Shopping our stash,Holly ,Jolly:ribbon,glitter,pearl,Just Inspirational,Heart to heart,Path of positivity

Birthday card for Father in Law

One of my friend wanted to gift her father in law a special card for his birthday. So she asked me to make one for him. Her husband and she were school time sweethearts and her father in law knew of their affair since those days!!!!

A traditional Indian family does not take to such affairs kindly. But her father in law took care of her like his own daughter. He called her during exams and she asked for his advises now and again. He was the only one who had supported their love all through adolescence. So it goes without saying that my friend simply adores him. She wanted me to come up with something reaaaallllyy good (thats what she told me on phone  :)  ) and sentimental. So here is my card:

 I have shown an elder hand that has been a blessing and shadow for 2 love sick kids!! :)
The yellow flowers are made from balloon punch. The red rose is made using the 5 petal punch

 I have added a little pop up inside the card that says "We love you alot"

Since gujarati was their mother tongue, she wanted me to write a poem in Gujarati. Here is the translation:
"Sometimes as a father and sometimes as a friend,
Your hand has always been like a blessing on us,
Even though we were young ,
You trusted our love
And blended it with your love and blessing
For someone with such a big heart, no worldly gift can suffice,
All we ask God, "That in ever birth we get you as our father""

Well, both she n her father in law loved the card, so i was happy too.
Please do leave back your comments, they always make my day!!!   :)
linking it to:
lulupu:dad, CRAFT: dad, paper craft, Delightful challenges

Regards,
Bijal

Mothers Day!!

This summer i thought of taking a little break from work and go spend sometime with my nephew and nieces.  I believe the only way to relieve a stressed mind is to spend time with people below age of 5 or above the age of 60. They have a way of making you forget all your worries!!!

That done i packed up to leave on a short trip. I got a call from my little niece demanding that she wanted to gift a card to her mom on mother's day! Pheww!!! As sweet as she is, she definitely knows to twist her masi(aunt) around her tiny finger! I didn't wish to carry all my craft supplies with me and just had a day in my hand. So I sat at night and came up with these cards in an hour!!

 I  managed to get their funky pics with goggles on from my cousin. And all was to be done in secrecy. According to my niece she wanted to surprise her mommy and didnt want a word leaked. So getting these 2 pictures was yet another story!!

Featured in the 2 pictures are both of my cousins with their respective kids! Their goggles add to the effect of on going summer!!!
We managed to gift the cards on the mother's day and had immense of fun with kids chattering around the whole time. Here are a few pics:

Both my nieces scrawling mother's day message

 My cute little nephew was doing nothing but troubling his sis while she was writing the card! :) and laughing around!!

Kids gifting the card to their respective mommas. My nephew was a little angry because he didnt want to share the card with his sister!!

That's me with the kids!!

And that's how we spent our mother's day with a dose of unlimited fun, masti and dhamaal!!   :)

Hope you all enjoyed reading my never ending post too :P ;)

Regards,
Bijal

Entering it in : Crafters corner, Hands To Heart,Cupcake craft,Tammy's scraping,Mema's Craft,Stamp and Create,Stamping with dragon

Side Step Card for Dad

This card was made on request.My manager wanted to gift his dad something of sentimental value on his birthday. He asked me to make a card for his dad.Since it would be customized, he knew i would ask him for little details about his dad. His likes, dislikes or anything that would give me a fair idea of what to make. But my manager remained tight lipped!!

He said, "Look at how much work I have. You make something for a dad. That's a clue simple enough!" So he left me to figure out, how to make his dad happy with a sentimental touch. Since i had not more than 2 days for this task, i set my thinking wheels rolling.

A father-daughter relation is a fragile one, made of unlimited love, care, warmth and open affection. Whereas  a father-son relation gets a little on the sturdier side. A father is like a manager to the son. Mentoring all through life and driving the son to the zenith of success! But when it comes to emotions, both of them get tongue tied!!!

So through this card i have tried my best to portray a son's feelings!

On the 3 steps, i have showed the 3 stages of life from being a baby to a student and finally a successful man. I wanted to portray that how through each stage in life dad has helped him succeed. The red sentiment on side reads "Love You Baba"  Baba is written in marathi (meaning Dad)

The side View.

A closer look at a father-son poem that i wrote!

I hope you liked it. The pics are not that great coz i had to click them at wee hours in the morning before leaving for office!!!

Do share your views!

Linking it to:
Catchy Challenges:3-PP,8-CP,1-Blings,6-base--18Rs, lulupu,Paper Creators,2 sisters:Gems,Image,sentiment: punch Sentflower,delicious Doodles,Crafters' companion
Cheers,
Bijal

Semi Circle Card

Hello all,
A quick post on a card that i made super quickly. Trying different forms of card, after a circle comes a semi-circle!!! So here is my semi circular card....

Its the first card, that i made in just one hour!!! I know one hour may sound too much to many people, but for newbies like me...making a card in one hour is an achievement !! ;)

Please do leave back your comments. They mean alot to me :)
Linking it to: elphine house,The House that stamps,Inky Imp,Magnolia,Everybody Art,PTT,penny black,
Cute Card

Bijal 

Circular Easel Card

I was a little bored of having same square or rectangle cards and thought of trying something circular. Since i didn't have any tools to cut circular shapes, i stuck to the traditional rounder, protractor and my lovely scissors!!!
No mention of how i had to revise my geometry to find the center of the circle...etc.... But i guess the end result was satisfying.
I have chosen the color scheme keeping in mind the Itsy Bitsy Logo Color challenge. Here are a few pics!

Thats the image of the card when lying flat down. The image of the girl blowing bubbles is coloured using local water colours. Have added Hobby Ideas glitter dots on the edge. The roses are punched flower prima roses.

That's the view of the card when opened. Its fun to make easel cards. They give a good view and are an easy click.

A closer look at the inside of the card. The sentiment "Blow The Bubbles of Joy" is hand written. I was soo tired of finding a ribbon of my choice and colour that i ended up  making a ribbon out of pattern paper and it gave an awesome look to the card!!!.
Hope you enjoy seeing the card as much as i enjoyed making it!! DO leave back your comments, they mean alot to me.
Linking it to:
Itsy Bitsy,Crafter's corner:rhinestone,patt pap,punches,For the love of crafting:geographical,Penny Blacy:blossomes and bows,IDIC:own flowers,That craft place: for a child,2 sisters,Catch The Bug:ribbon,pearl,glitter,One Stop Craft:not square,Pumpkin Spice:sentiment,Creative corner,Daring Card Makers,Art Impression,Ruby's Rainbow:round

Bijal

Easel Card for a guy

Hello everyone,

Since quite a few days i had been toying around with the idea of making a male card. The immediate thought that came to my mind was using color blue. To confirm  my thoughts i asked my bro that what colour does he like the best. He answered "Blue"!!! Then i asked him which shade of blue :turquoise, teal,navy,sky blue?

I got the  "Are u out of your mind?" look from him. And he replied " Blue is blue...the variations are illusions of female perception" I was shocked at his stupid comment. I got a little curious and thought of asking other guys. And all of them gave me more or less the same answer with the same look!!!

I left my curiosity there and made a card using my own head and sense of colors. As it is I don't think that guys ever look at the nuances of beauty. They go for "overall look is good". If you ask what is particularly good...They say, "Refer to answer 1"    :)

Finally here is my blue easel card, whose overall look my bro admired :)

I hope you guys like it too :) Please do leave back your precious comments. They mean alot to me.!!!!

Linking it to:
Colour throwdown,party time tuesdays,Scribbles design,The Stamp Spot:Mens Card,Eureka Stamps,Love to create:for guys,Oh la la:easel card, ginger loft challenge:guy,Love for crafts,Aud Sentiments

Regards,
Bijal

Diamond fold card with a touch of spring

Hello friends,

This April has bought alot of holidays for some tired souls like me ;)  Hence I thought of trying all types of cards wrt all the challenges that are going around. And its spring time evreywhere!!!

I think i have fallen in love with diamond fold card. They are so simple to make and yet give a little complicated look to the card. So here I am with one more Diamond fold card. The link to my diamond fold card tutorial is here

The image( a cute fairy holding a yummy cake!!) is hand colored with water colors. This is the closed view of the card.

This is the view of the card when kept fully open. Have added half doilies on both the end panels.

A little sentiment that matches the image.

The central rose i made using this Spiral Rose Tutorial. The other 2 mini roses have been made using a 5 petal flower punch

Please do leave back your comments. They mean alot to me.  :)

Linking it to:

Card Mania:Punches,Cards in Envy:wings,Digi Sketch:roses,Catchy Challenges:HOT,For The love of crafting:geo shapes,melonheadz friends:fancyfolds,Paper Playtime: More than one fold,One Stitch At Time: Bright colours,Scrappy Frog:Spring, Lacy Sunshine:spring